So what exactly is this Rosary thing that Catholics do? Isn't it just repetitious prayer babbling the Hail Mary? Isn't vain repetition banned by the Bible?

The Truth is that if you say your Rosary daily, and meditate on its mysteries, it will bring down many graces from heaven to you. It will strengthen you to overcome temptation, and to grow holy. It will lead you straight to heaven, and away from the devil. Saying the rosary is pondering the life of Christ with Mary, as she did in Luke 2:19. Is 15 or 20 minutes a day worth that to you? How many people do you know that say the rosary daily are lustful, angry, slothful, etc.? Habitual sin will no longer be a part of your life.

The Rosary is more than just repeating the words of Gabriel ("Hail Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee") and Elizabeth ("Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus") from scripture. It is also about meditating on the 20 "mysteries". Mysteries? What are these mysteries? They are broken down into four sets of mysteries, all taken from the bible:

While the first 18 mysteries can be directly taken from the Bible, the last 2 mysteries, the Assumption of Mary and the Coronation of Mary, can be deduced from scripture. Taking a close look at Revelation Chapter 12, scripture talks about a woman, not a disembodied spirit, in heaven with a crown on her head. Paul says that a crown AWAITS us all in heaven (2 Timothy 4:8), so this woman already has hers. Since this woman is the woman who gave birth to the Savior, the woman has to be Mary.

And Psalm 45:6ff clearly talks about the coronation of the Queen:

Your divine throne endures for ever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity; you love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows; your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad; daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir. Hear, O daughter, consider, and incline your ear; forget your people and your father's house; and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him; the people of Tyre will sue your favor with gifts, the richest of the people with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes; in many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions, her escort, in her train. With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. Instead of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you for ever and ever.

(**NOTE - This last verse from Psalm 45 is a clear reference to Luke 1:48 concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary:for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generationswill call me blessed!)

The Bible says in James 5:20 that "whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." So by praying the rosary for sinners, we not only save them, but ourselves as well.

To multiply the blessings of the rosary, it is very beneficial to join the Rosary Confraternity. By joining, you get the blessings from all of the rosaries said by all of the members, rather than just yours.

Each meditation on each mystery consists of saying one Our Father, 10 Hail Mary's (while meditating on the mystery), the Glory Be to the Father Prayer, and the Fatima Prayer ("Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy). At the end of the rosary, the Hail Holy Queen prayer is usually said.

The meditation on these events is the key to the Rosary. Mindlessly repeating the Hail Mary prayer without the meditation on these mysteries would be vain repitition, but when the vocal prayer (the body of the rosary), is combined with the mental meditation of the 20 mysteries (the soul of the rosary), then it is actually praying the gospel of Jesus Christ ! The physical rosary beads are nothing more than prayer counters to help us remember when it is time to switch over to the next mystery. If one is truly meditating, then trying to remember the number of Hail Mary's would be tough. By fingering the beads, it merely assists us with the count. While it is tough to try to meditate on the mysteries at the same time one is saying the Hail Mary, the key to properly saying the rosary is to concentrate less on the Hail Mary, and more on the mysteries. Putting one's self back in time mentally and trying to visualize actually being at the scene of the mystery is a good technique to use. And be sure to get your rosary blessed by a priest. The blessing on the rosary increases the spirituality of your prayers, forever.

Catholics don’t believe that Mary is a goddess. She has no power of her own. She acknowledges in Luke 1:47 that God is her Savior. However, Catholics do believe Mary when she said in Luke 1:46 that her “soul magnifies the Lord.” Mary’s soul is still very much alive, and is still magnifying the Lord, which is a very good and holy thing. Mary was chosen by God the Father to be the living tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, to contain the Word Made Flesh, Jesus. Jesus himself was obedient to her (Luke 2:51). If it's good enough for Jesus to be obedient to Mary, then it's good enough for his servants also. No servant is greater than his Master (John 13:16). Jesus said that you shall know a tree by its fruit, (Luke 6:44) and Jesus is the fruit of Mary's womb ( Luke 1:42), which means that Mary, while not divine, was certainly created and remained pure and holy, because a rotten tree cannot bear good fruit.

♥ Isn’t saying the Hail Mary prayer worshiping Mary?

The definition of the verb "to pray" means "to ask," not “to worship”. People who say the Hail Mary do not worship Mary, any more than Gabriel did when he told Mary – “Hail full of grace” (Luke 1:28), and Elizabeth did when she said “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus”, Luke 1:42).

♥ Isn’t repetitious prayer considered to be sinful, according to the Bible?

No. Revelation 4:8 makes that very clear. Vain prayer to false pagan gods, and not praying from the heart, is what is forbidden in Matthew 6:7. Telling Mary you love her and asking for her help and intercession is what is commanded by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1 as being good and acceptable in the sight of God. It is no different than professing love for your spouse over and over again. And speaking ofthe fallacy of God hearing you through many words, has anyone ever listened to protestant prayers before meals, for healing, and for other things? Sometimes they go on and on and on and on....

♥ Isn’t it forbidden by the bible to conjure up dead people?

Yes, it is forbidden in Deuteronomy 18:10, as are all occultic practices. Saul did this to Samuel in 1 Samuel 28. However, no one who says the Hail Mary is trying to conjure her up to obtain secret information like Saul did. Jesus Himself talked to the very "dead" Moses and Elijah at the Transfiguration of Christ(Matthew 17:2-3), so it is NOT a sin to talk to those who have gone before us, because Jesus never committed a sin and talked to dead people. And, according to Jesus in Matthew 22:32, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, so that means that people in heaven like Mary aren't dead, but alive in Christ. People who pray to Mary are only asking for her to pray to Jesus WITH them. Mary is not “between” us and God, but is rather “alongside” of us in her prayers. Mary was not only the first Christian; she was also the first Evangelist.

♥ Isn’t Mary dead? How can she possibly hear our prayers?

No, all souls ever created are alive somewhere. Only atheists believe that dead people are no longer alive. Dead in the body is not dead in the soul. Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:32 that “God is not the God of the dead, but of the LIVING.” InLuke 20:36, the Bible says that saints in heaven are EQUAL to the angels, and we all know angels can hear and intercede for us and are God's messengers as well. In Revelation 12, St. John says that he sees Mary in Heaven. In Revelation 12:17, St. John says that we are Mary’s children (spiritually, like he was, in John 19:27), if we obey the Commandments and bear testimony to Jesus. According to 2 Peter 1:4, people in heaven become partakers in the divine nature, and that would include hearing prayers. 1 Corinthians 6:17 says that those who are united to Christ become one spirit with Him, and NO ONE was more united to Christ than Mary, who was His living Holy Tabernacle for 9 months here on earth, and who Gabriel said IS "FULL OF GRACE" and "THE LORD IS WITH YOU!" This is why Mary was chosen by Jesus to be his entry point onto the earth; in other words, Mary was not full of grace because she bore Jesus for 9 months. Rather, she bore Jesus for 9 months because she was already full of grace, and therefore there is no room for sin in her body or soul!

♥ Why should I pray to Mary when I can go straight to Jesus in my prayers?

You can go straight to Jesus in prayer, and you should. God bless you for doing that. But James also says in James 5: 16 that the “prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects”. No one on earth can be as righteous as anyone in heaven, and the Blessed Virgin Mary is certainly in heaven. Also keep in mind that our prayers are presented to God by the saints and angels in the form of incense (Revelation 5:8 and 8:3). And saints can pray for us day and night, even when we are asleep and can't pray for ourselves. The devil never sleeps, and neither do the saints in heaven.

♥ Isn’t Jesus, not Mary, the one Mediator between God and man?

Yes, and that mediation of salvation was accomplished on the cross, and is ongoing today. Jesus is our Mediator between God the Father and Man. Paul says that Jesus is the one mediator of the New Covenant, not prayer (Hebrews 9:14-15). Mary leads us to Jesus, who will then lead us to God Our Father. Mary’s role in intercessory prayer is no different than when one intercedes in prayer for their loved ones. In other words, saints in heaven share in Christ's mediation, just like your kids share your life with you.

"The Rosary is the best therapy for these distraught, unhappy, fearful, and frustrated souls, precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of three powers: the physical, the vocal, and the spiritual, and in that order."

Pope John XXIII spoke 38 times about Our Lady and the Rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily.

"The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who loves His Mother."

St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort

"One day through the Rosary and the Scapular I will save the world."

Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Dominic

"Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world."

Our.Lady.of.Fatima, 1917

"The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary." .

St. Francis de Sales

"If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I assure you that in spite of the gravity of your sins, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in Hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and save your soul, if and mark well what I say -- if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon of your sins."

St. Louis de Montfort

"Those who say the Rosary daily and wear the Brown Scapular and who do a little more, will go straight to Heaven."

St. Alphonsus Ligouri

"Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the most Holy Rosary. "

Pope Pius IX

"If there were one million families praying the Rosary every day, the entire world would be saved."

Pope St. Pius X

"There is no surer means of calling down God's blessing upon the family than the daily recitation of the Rosary."

Pope Pius XII

"We put great confidence in the Holy Rosary for the healing of evils which afflict our times."

Pope Pius XII

"The Rosary is a school for learning true Christian perfection."

Pope John XXIII

"No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary. Either he will give up the sin or he will give up the Rosary"

Bishop Patrick Boyle

"Those who say the Rosary frequently and fervently will gradually grow in grace and holiness and will enjoy the special protection of Our Lady and the abiding friendship of God."

Bishop Hugh Boyle

"The Family that prays together, stays together."

Father Patrick Peyton

"If families give Our Lady fifteen minutes a day by reciting the Rosary, I assure them that their homes will become, by God's grace, peaceful places.

FatherPatrick Peyton

"If our age in its pride laughs at and rejects Our Lady's Rosary, a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held it most dear and have most piously recited it but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil, to preserve the purity of their lives, to acquire virtue more zealously, in a word, to promote peace among men."

Pope Pius XI

"When you pray Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now....., the Blessed Mother comes instantly to your side to pray with you. And she does not come alone. She brings angels with her. And not just one or two for she is the Queen of Angels, so choirs of angels come with her. And she and Jesus are joined at the heart and cannot be separated so she brings Jesus with her. And Jesus cannot be separated from the Trinity so He brings the Father and the Holy Spirit with Him. And where the Holy Trinity is all of creation is and you are surrounded by such beauty and light as you cannot imagine in this life. Your Mother comes as Our Lady of Grace with her hands out-stretched. Rays of light emit from her hands piercing your body, healing you and filling you with graces. This is your inheritance which was poured out from the heart of Jesus on the Cross, when the centurion pierced His Heart with the spear, into the only pure vessel ready to receive such graces at that time,Your Mother. Now as you pray the Rosary, or even just recite one Hail Mary, you receive your portion of these graces."He also said at this time, "Anyone who goes to Mary and prays the Rosary cannot be touched by Satan." Is it any wonder that anyone who prays the Rosary from the heart is so blessed and protected and powerful in their prayers for others?"

Father Gabriel Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican

The Rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the Rosary is beyond description."

2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.

3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.

4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.

5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.

6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.

8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.

9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.

10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.

11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.

12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.

13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.

14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Blessings of the Rosary

1. Sinners are forgiven. 2. Souls that thirst are refreshed. 3. Those who are fettered have their bonds broken. 4. Those who weep find happiness 5. Those who are tempted find peace. 6. The poor find help. 7. Religious are reformed. 8. Those who are ignorant are instructed. 9. The living learn to overcome pride. 10. The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased by suffrages.

Benefits of saying the Rosary

1. It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ. 2. It purifies our souls, washing away sin. 3. It gives us victory over all our enemies. 4. It makes it easy for us to practice virtue. 5. It sets us on fire with love of Our Lord. 6. It enriches us with graces and merits. 7. It supplies us with what is needed to pay all our debts to God and to our fellow men; and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.

Why you should say the Rosary daily...

Our Lady has 117 titles. She selected this title at Fatima: "I am the Lady of the Rosary."

St. Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is - Pray the Rosary.

St. Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in RomeItaly on just the Hail Mary.

St. Padre Pio called the rosary "My Weapon", and usually had a rosary in his hand at all times.

St. Bartolo Longo was a satanist who became a saint after rejecting the devil, by promoting the Holy Rosary.

Europe was saved from being taken over by the Muslim Turks at the Battle of Lepanto, after the Pope told his outnumbered forces to pray the Holy Rosary before the battle.

St. John Vianney, patron of priests, was seldom seen without a rosary in hand.

The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared at Fatima to three shepherd children in 1917, as "Our Lady of the Rosary". While this is a private revelation, it has been approved by the Church as being true. While it is not binding on the faithful as dogma, Mary did ask each one of us to say the Rosary daily for peace and for the sinners on earth, who will go to hell if no one prays for them. By making it a habit to say the rosary daily, we not only are obeying the Blessed Mother's request, we are saving sinners from Hell.

If you wish to obtain a favor - Pray the "54 day Rosary Novena." Pray 3 nine day rosary novenas - 27 days of petition; Pray 3 nine day rosary novenas - 27 days of thanksgiving.

Will you give 1% of 1440 minutes each day to God? If so, pray the daily rosary in 15 minutes - 1% of 24 hours. Later on, give 4% and pray the entire 20 decade rosary - Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous, and Glorious Mysteries.

Each meditation on each mystery consists of saying one Our Father, 10 Hail Mary's (while meditating on the mystery), the Glory Be to the Father Prayer, and the Fatima Prayer ("Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy). At the end of the rosary, the Hail Holy Queen prayer is usually said.The meditation on these events is the key to the Rosary. Mindlessly repeating the Hail Mary prayer without the meditation on these mysteries would be vain repitition, but when the vocal prayer (the body of the rosary), is combined with the mental meditation of the 20 mysteries (the soul of the rosary), then it is actually praying the gospel of Jesus Christ ! The physical rosary beads are nothing more than prayer counters to help us remember when it is time to switch over to the next mystery. If one is truly meditating, then trying to remember the number of Hail Mary's would be tough. By fingering the beads, it merely assists us with the count. While it is tough to try to meditate on the mysteries at the same time one is saying the Hail Mary, the key to properly saying the rosary is to concentrate less on the Hail Mary, and more on the mysteries. Putting one's self back in time mentally and trying to visualize actually being at the scene of the mystery is a good technique to use. And be sure to get your rosary blessed by a priest. The blessing on the rosary increases the spirituality of your prayers, forever.